


Rise

by CatFirebrand



Series: Miles To Go [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 09:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1505042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatFirebrand/pseuds/CatFirebrand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard was dead. At least, she was pretty sure she was. Until someone woke her up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“Liara!”_

Shepard bolted upright, her mind spinning. 

_What the fuck??_

_“Shepard, do you hear me? Get out of that bed now. This facility is under attack.”_

_What the hell?_ Shepard looked around, trying to make sense of her surroundings. _Last thing I remember…_

The attack on the _Normandy_ came back to her in thundering clarity. The ship burning around her, the evacuation. Pulling Joker out, only to lose herself. 

Drifting in space, spiraling inevitably closer to planetary impact, with no oxygen. 

She choked, falling to her knees. 

_No air._

_I died._

_Fuck._

_What the fuck._

Her hands flew over her body, her face. _How in hell am I not dead?_

 _“Shepard!”_ Her head jerked up at the voice. _“Your scars aren’t healed, but I need you to get moving. This facility is under attack!”_

 _That voice._ Shepard shook herself. A brief memory, still hazy, flew through her mind. A dark-haired woman with an accent, and blinding pain. 

_What the fuck is going on?_

She pushed to her feet, only to stumble again as the room shook. 

_“There’s a pistol in the locker on the other side of the room. Hurry!”_

Shepard moved, taking in her surroundings as she went. Some kind of lab. Fires outside the room. More shaking, the unmistakable signature of heavy weaponry. 

Gunfire. 

_“Grab the pistol and armor from the locker. You don’t have time to wait around, Shepard!”_

She grabbed the pistol, and started putting on the armor. _I don’t know who this bitch is, but I’m getting sick of her yelling at me._

But the station shook again, forestalling any questions. Shepard slipped the helmet on, and inspected the gun. 

_Fuck._ “There’s no ammo in this thing!” 

_“It’s a medbay, not an armory! We’ll get you a thermal clip from—Dammit”_ The room shook again as the door blew in. _“Keep your head down, Shepard. I didn’t put you back together just for these assholes to blow you up again.”_

“What the fuck is going on?” 

_“Someone’s hacking security, trying to kill you. Find yourself a thermal clip, and get moving.”_

Shepard ran from cover to the door, and ducked again. “What the hell is a thermal clip? When did guns stop using rechargeable cores?” 

_“Fucking hell. Just look for something that fits your pistol. They’re universal. Once we get you off this station, I’ll answer all your questions. But you have to survive, first!”_

“Yeah, yeah. I think I found one.” She scooped the round clip off the ground and slid it into her pistol, only glancing at the body next to her. 

Until her eye caught on the dead man’s clothing. 

_I know that symbol._

Her mind churned, trying to place it. Too many random pieces swirling around her head, pieces that weren’t fitting together… 

_Fuck this, I—_

Something exploded nearby, almost sending her to the floor again. 

_Shit. Later._

Shepard shook herself and focused on the task at hand. Stay alive. Ask questions later. 

Stay alive. 

The voice on her comm guided her through the… Station? Ship? Facility? Whatever. She didn’t care. Focus on the mechs, don’t get shot. Shoot first. 

She reached out to pin a mech with a stasis field, and blew it backwards into a wall instead. 

_Great. Even my biotics are weird._

_At least my aim is mostly on._

Her pistol shot went wide. Shepard grimaced, then grabbed a grenade launcher off the floor and leveled another round of mechs. 

_“You’re doing great, Shepard. Just a li…le… Shepa…ead me… “_

“You’re breaking up!” 

_“…pard! Ca…”_

The comm cut out. 

_Fan-fucking-tastic._ She rolled through another door and shot two more mechs. _Where the hell am I supposed to go now?_ Another door, another room, another round of mechs. 

And again. 

“Shepard, what the hell?” 

She dove into cover before answering. “Who the hell are you?” 

The man shot another mech, then ducked down. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still a work in progress?” 

Shepard grabbed his armor and dragged him close. “Look, I don’t know who the fuck you are, or why these things are shooting me. Last I remember, I was drifting in space, and then I wake up here with some bitch shouting at me over the comm to get up, because someone’s trying to kill me.” She shoved him back and tossed off a shot. The mech exploded. “So you tell me.” 

The man at least had the good grace to look chagrined. “Sorry. Jacob Taylor. Been stationed here for—” He popped up, but Shepard took the shot first. “Damn.” He shook his head. “Things must be worse than I thought if Miranda’s got you running around.” 

_Miranda?_

“I’ll fill you in, but we better get you to the shuttle first.” 

Shepard launched a warp, finishing off the mechs with a few shots from her pistol. “Fine. But then, I want answers.” 

_“Check, check. Anyone on this frequency? Anybody still alive out there? Hello?”_

Jacob blinked, surprised, and triggered his comm. “Wilson? This is Jacob. I’m here with Commander Shepard.” 

_“Shepard’s alive? How the hell…”_

Something about the way he said it made Shepard’s eyes narrow. 

_“Never mind, you need to get her out of there.”_

Wilson, whoever he was, gave Jacob directions, and the man went charging off. Shepard followed, hesitantly. Whoever these people were, they knew more about what was going on than she did. 

But that didn’t mean she had to like it. 

Or that she had to trust them.


	2. Chapter 2

_Cerberus._

Wilson plugged in the door code while Shepard seethed. 

_Cerberus. I can’t fucking believe this. First I’m dead two years, then it’s fucking CERBERUS that brings me back?_

_I swear, if someone doesn’t—_

The door cycled open, exposing a vaguely familiar dark-haired woman holding a pistol to Wilson’s head. 

“Miranda! But you were—” 

The woman sneered, and fired. Wilson crumpled to the floor. “Dead? I don’t think so.” 

Jacob came running at the shot. “Miranda? What the hell are you doing?” 

Shepard looked at Miranda over the sight of her pistol. The woman merely shrugged. 

“My job. Wilson betrayed us all.” 

_Well, the voice matches._ She put her gun away, willing, for the moment, to give the woman who'd woken her up a chance. “I had a feeling Wilson was just looking for a chance to put a bullet in my back.” 

Miranda looked her up and down. “Good instincts. Some people are far too trusting to ever see that coming. Come on, let’s grab this shuttle and get out of here. I imagine you have questions.” 

_Damn right I do._

“And my boss wants to speak to you.” 

Shepard snorted, and followed her onto the shuttle. “You mean the Illusive Man? I know you work for Cerberus.” 

She didn’t make any effort to hide the disgust in her voice. 

Miranda didn’t miss a beat. “Ah, Jacob. I should’ve known your conscience would get the better of you.” 

“Lying to her isn’t going to get her to join our cause.” 

Miranda rolled her eyes. “Just get us out of here, Jacob. I’ll take care of the Commander.” 

Shepard sat as Jacob shut the shuttle door, and then moved to the front to take the controls. Miranda shut the door to the front, then sat across from her. 

“I hope you don’t mind if just us girls chat.” 

Shepard shrugged. “Suits me. He’s a bit too much of a boy scout, anyway. It’s starting to get on my nerves.” 

The corner of Miranda’s mouth quirked. “He has his uses. Now, before I answer your questions, I need to ask you a few. You aren’t supposed to be awake yet. I need to know as much as I can about your…readiness.” 

Shepard rolled her neck and sighed. “Fine. Ask.” 

Miranda shot rapid-fire questions at her. Everything from her parents’ names, her personal history before and after the Alliance, her likes and dislikes, to the major events of Saren and Sovereign’s attack on the Citadel. 

She answered them all, in a bored tone. 

“How are you feeling?” 

That one threw her. 

_Confused. Angry. Lost._

“Physically? Fine, I guess. A little wobbly, but nothing being up and moving won’t fix. My biotics are a little weird.” 

Miranda smiled. “Ah. I suppose they might be. As part of your reconstruction, we fitted you with a new implant, an L5x. You’re a Vanguard, so it should’ve been an L5n, but you’ve always had strong biotics for a human. I took a chance and gave you the more powerful implant. It might take some getting used to, but I have no doubt you’ll adapt.” 

Shepard grunted. “That explains a few things.” Relearning control would be a challenge, but it was fine, now Shepard knew what she was in for. But the rest... She paused, staring at the metal grating of the shuttle floor. “Was I really dead for two years?” 

This time, it was Miranda who hesitated. “I’m sorry, Shepard.” 

“So everyone… They all made it? Garrus? Wrex? Tali? Ash?” She swallowed. “Liara?” 

“Your crew survived.” 

She closed her eyes and nodded. “But everyone thinks I’m dead. My mother. The Alliance. The Council.” They’ve mourned. Moved on. 

Her heart wrenched. _Liara._

“Officially, you were listed as missing in action. Your body was never recovered, as far as the Alliance knows.” 

She took a deep breath, then looked up at Miranda. “Why? Why bring me back?” 

The operative leaned back. “Because the galaxy needs you, Shepard. It all fell apart with your death. But you and I both know the Reapers are coming.” 

“There’s got to be more to it than that.” 

Miranda nodded. “There is. But I’ll let the Illusive Man fill you in on the details. My job was simply to bring you back. I accomplished that. The rest, well, that will be up to you.” 

Shepard glanced out the window, watching as the shuttle dropped out of FTL and approached the station. 

_The rest is up to me._

_Hm._

_The rest of what?_

She looked away, closing her eyes as she leaned back into the bench seat. First things first. Talk to the Illusive Man, and find out what’s so urgent that an organization that was bound to know she hated them would invest two years, and countless credits, to bring her back. 

And then she’d track down her crew. Her _family._

Starting with Liara.


End file.
